IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
SARAH ALIEN LONGCHAMP
(1911-1996)
PAPERS, 1911-1997
(bulk 1924-1938, 1972)
7 linear inches
|
ACQUISITION: |
The papers (donor no.183) were donated
by Sarah Alien Longchamp in
1993. |
|
ACCESS: |
The papers are open for research. |
|
»COPYRIGHT: |
»Copyright has been transferred to the University of Iowa. |
|
PHOTOGRAPHS: |
In box 1 and 2. |
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PROCESSED
BY: |
Your name, year»Melissa Burger, 1994. |
Biography
Sarah
Alien Longchamp, an early Iowa women's basketball player, was born on March 18,
1911 to Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Maurice White in Ida Grove, Iowa. Longchamp's high school career as a
basketball player began when she was just four years old as a mascot for her
older sister's team. During her career
Longchamp was a player on two of Ida Grove's state championship teams in 1928
and 1929. This success during high
school led to her induction into the Iowa Women's Basketball Hall of Fame on
March 11, 1972.
Following high school Longchamp attended the State
University of Iowa (now the University of Iowa) and pledged at Kappa Alpha
Theta. After completing her education, Longchamp
spent time traveling. This included a trip to Europe in 1938.
Early in 1942, Longchamp began to work at the Department
of Terrestrial Magnetism of Carnegie Institute in Washington, D.C. then went to
the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, Silver Springs,
Maryland which she left in January 1943 to join the Navy. This led to a military career culminating in
the rank of Commander in 1957. In this
capacity she worked on the production of radio proximity fuses and from 1957 to
1959 on the Polaris Program as a contract specialist.
On January 23, 1960 she married Francis Michael Longchamp
in Washington, D.C. The Longchamps
moved to Omaha, Nebraska, in 19xx.
Sarah Longchamp died on December 31, 1996.
Scope and Content Note
The
Sarah Alien Longchamp papers
date from 1911 to 1997 and
measure 7 linear inches. The papers
are arranged in three series: Scrapbooks, Basketball,
and Biographical information. The
collection documents the tradition of Iowa women's athletics, specifically
basketball, and also chronicles Longchamp's high school career and trip to
Europe in 1938.
Biographical information (1911-1997) includes
Longchamp's birth announcement, high school diploma, a letter from a State
University of Iowa advisor, her wedding announcement in the Ida County Pioneer Record, and a copy of
the program for her memorial service on January 4, 1997.
The Scrapbooks series (1915-1941) consists of
three scrapbooks with the bulk content from 1924-30 and 1938. They include a number of school and theater
programs, letters, postcards and mementos.
The series also has numerous photographs including a picture of
Longchamp in 1915 as her sister's basketball team mascot.
In addition, the scrapbooks contain articles on
Longchamp's nomination as eleventh district entry for Most Representative Girl
for the Drake Relays Princess at Drake University's spring festival and dance
in 1928. There is also memorabilia from
the Kappa Alpha Theta convention in 1940, society columns and articles about
World War II.
The Basketball series (1960, 1971-1972) includes
articles about Longchamp and her niece Colleen White, both from Ida Grove High
School. It also includes articles, a
letter and pictures from Longchamp's induction into the Iowa Women's Basketball
Hall of Fame. In addition, there is a
program from the 1971 girls' state basketball championship in this series.
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Box no. Description
Box
1
Biographical Information,
1911-1997
Basketball, 1960, 1971-1972
Box 2
Oversize:
Scrapbooks
1915-1936
Box 3
1927-1934
Box 4
1936-1941